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Wednesday, June 6, 2012

My 3 Favorite iPad Productivity Tools

I'm not much of an edtech writer – there are already
hundreds of voices and tons of information out there regarding technology and I’m
not sure that one more voice would add much to the conversation. That being said, I have always loved
edtech. I remember arguing with division
IT guys back in the late 90s because the blocked blogger on the school network.
(Of course they did this after I had set up class and student blogs – something
about the randomness of the ‘next blog’ button.)

Now that I’m a central office administrator I still take the
time to review the latest gadgets and software that enable student
learning. I’m also the office guinea pig
when it comes to tech. For instance, I
have the only iPad in the office.

As an Android guy (my favorite gadget right now is my Razr
paired with my Motorola Lapdock) I found it hard to make the iPad
productive. We are a Microsoft district
so the iPad has trouble talking with my work documents and projects. Plus, for me anyway, the iPad is awkward to
type on. It’s taken awhile but I’ve
found some work-arounds that enable me to use my documents and files on the
go. I’m excited about it so I thought I’d
do a quick write-up.

Quick Office Pro HD

A bit pricey but it allows me to see all the ‘stuff’ I
create in Office to be viewed and manipulated on the iPad. It also serves as a
PDF viewer so I can carry large files without actually carrying large
files. I use it in conjunction with Google Drive to
easily move files back and forth wirelessly.
Just be sure to download items to the iPad otherwise you might get stuck
without Wi-Fi and in desperate need of a document.

Google Drive

Five free gigs of storage and anywhere access make Google
Drive my favorite cloud storage.
Download the desktop app to your Windows machine and you can drag and
drop items rather than uploading via the web.
Use a separate account to store work related items unless you want your
vacation photos to become “discoverable” should something go awry.

Penultimate

I hate typing on the iPad.
Penultimate allows you to write on your iPad using a stylus. Multiple tools, styles, and pens give you
versatility and allow you to be creative.
Pages can be organized into notebooks and sent via email, Wi-Fi, or the
cloud. Currently, integrates with
Evernote and Dropbox but I did find a way to integrate with Google Drive by
going through Quick Office.

Not the flashiest of tools but they have helped me to be
more productive.

What are your favorite iPad tools? Feel free to leave a comment below.